The Flash recap: 'Crisis on Earth-X, Part 3'

The Flash

type

TV Show

run date

10/15/14

performer

Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton

broadcaster

The CW

seasons

3

Current Status

In Season

We gave it a B+

Wilkommen and bienvenue to night two of “Crisis on Earth-X.” As we enter the third act of this year’s uber-crossover, it’s clear that this is Berlanti & Co.’s most ambitious outing yet. And I’m sure I said that last year during “Invasion,” which actually took some of our heroes to space. “Part 3” divides its time between Earth-1 and a flash sideways to a Man in the High Castle world where we meet some exciting new characters. Somehow, The Flash travels to this Nazi-occupied Earth without becoming incredibly didactic or obvious with its social commentary.

We pick up on Earth-X with Barry, Oliver, Alex, Stein, Sara, and Jax trapped in a dark and upsetting prison camp that’s reminiscent of the oppressive Days of Future Past future in the X-Men universe. The camp is occupied by those who do not fit the Nazis’ Aryan ideal, including one Ray Terrill (Russell Tovey), who was imprisoned for being gay. Of course on Earth-X, Quentin Lance is a high-ranking Nazi who killed his daughter Sara for being bisexual, so needless to say he’s not pleased to discover Earth-1 Sara, whom he describes as “Nordic perfection” (gross!), is also bisexual.

Quentin-X rounds up the Superfriends and marches them out to face a firing squad. They obviously won’t meet their maker now, because Citizen Cold — Captain Cold’s heroic Earth-X doppelganger who prefers to be called Leo and loves Barry’s Flash costume — arrives in time to free them. God, Wentworth Miller is delightfully hammy as ever! Honestly, it’s a shame the Arrow-verse is losing him soon, because he brings a unique and campy energy to every show he appears on. Leo removes Ray’s collar, and The Ray starts glowing a bright gold, flies up, and takes out the guards with some power beams. (The episode doesn’t really explain his powers at all.)

From there, Ray and Leo take the Superfriends to this Earth’s S.T.A.R. Labs, the resistance’s base, where they meet Winn’s Earth-X doppelganger, General Schott, who leads the resistance. With the Führer on Earth-1, the war-hardened general wants to destroy the heavily guarded multiverse gateway, which is the only way the Superfriends can make it back to their Earth. This is the last thing any of them want, especially Alex, who is not only desperate to reunite with her sister but is also wondering if she made the wrong decision with Maggie. Sara tells her to trust her instincts.

While Alex pleads with General Schott to delay his attack on the gateway, Stein assures Jax that he’s family, too, and lovers Ray and Leo (a.k.a. my new favorite Arrow-verse couple) share a very touching reunion that simply conveys their stake in this war against an oppressive government. Leo, who wants to make sure his Earth-1-born boyfriend can someday see his family again, manages to convince the general to postpone his attack on the gateway facility for an hour. So, the Superfriends have 60 minutes to infiltrate the facility, disable the metahuman dampeners, defeat the guards, and return their Earth. Easy, right?

Meanwhile back on Earth-1, Team Arrow, Cisco, Harry, and Caitlin are all trapped in the pipeline, while Felicity and Iris crawl through the ventilation system to do some recon on their enemies, who have Supergirl strapped to a gurney in the Cortex, and figure a way out. The women embrace their inner badasses and take out the soldiers guarding the pipeline, but unfortunately, the door is broken and they can’t open it. Now their only hope of taking S.T.A.R. Labs is freeing Supergirl from that red sunlight. (NEXT: The Flash vs. Red Tornado)